FAA Refuses To Discuss AMI Suspension/A008 Issues

Despite repeated requests from AIN, the FAA said that no officials would conduct any interviews about last week’s emergency suspension of AMI Jet Charter’s Part 135 certificate. Asked specifically what AMI had done that made it so unsafe, the FAA refused to comment, except to say, “Revocation/suspension is our last resort. Our goal is to obtain compliance with regulations and ensure safety, not suspend or revoke a certificate. If we get to that latter point, we have to make sure we have good evidence of safety violations that will stand up to an appeal or in court.” An FAA spokesman told AIN yesterday morning that agency officials would discuss A008 OpSpec and operational control issues in general, but then later reneged, saying, “I spoke too soon. We are now declining operational control interviews until the AMI Jet Charter case is settled.” NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said that AMI’s certificate suspension “should be viewed as a wake-up call to all charter providers.”